The long-serving general counsel of privately owned company Ferring Pharmaceutical has quit after the company relocated from Copenhagen to Wallisellen, Switzerland. General counsel Patricia Barclay decided not to move with the company headquarters, which could leave Ferring without a general counsel for much of the year. She has been general counsel since 1984. Ferring has […]
Switzerland may still have the reputation for discreet banking, but dubious funds can no longer take advantage of Swiss banking secrecy laws. Michael Fisher reports
CMS Cameron McKenna’s Swiss ally has absorbed Zurich’s Henrici Wicki & Guggisberg. The five-partner firm is expected to join CMS von Erlach Klainguti Stettler Wille by October. The merged outfit will trade as CMS von Erlach Henrici. Henrici Wicki specialises in banking and general commercial work for a largely banking, commodities and energy clientele. The […]
According to figures published by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance in May 2005, there are 339 banks in Switzerland holding deposits from foreign investors with a total value of CHF1,967bn (about £860bn). Switzerland is, and has for a long time been, the world leader in private banking. According to some estimations, 30 per cent […]
A proposal to modify the household tax regime to mitigate an increase in the tax rate for married couples’ aggregate income, and to change the tax treatment of deemed rental income from real estate owned for personal use, was rejected by public vote on 16 May 2004. However, those issues remain in the pipeline for […]
Holborn-based Collyer-Bristow is set to launch its first overseas office in November when the firm opens for business in Geneva. The firm has a number of existing client relationships in Switzerland, including Philip Morris – one of a number of major corporates to have their international headquarters in the region. Although a handful of US […]
The trust arm of Jersey law firm Bedell Cristin has deepened its penetration of the onshore sector with the launch of a business in Switzerland. Last November, Bedell Cristin Trust was the first offshore firm to establish a trust administration company in Dublin. Bedell plans to act for the super-rich who have trust administered bank […]
Miami law firm Greenberg Traurig has blasted into Europe by launching in Amsterdam and Zurich The move follows the firm’s decision to abandon plans to open a City office because of the overheated London market. Greenberg president and chief executive officer Cesar Alvarez told The Lawyer that opening in London did not make sense because […]
CMS Cameron McKenna’s Swiss alliance CMS von Erlach Klainguti Stettler Wille has taken on a new corporate partner. Patrick Sommer, who specialises in corporate, M&A and competition law, joins from the Zurich office of Pestalozzi Gmuer & Patry. Mergers and alliances between local law firms and international networks in Switzerland are far less developed than […]
Landwell, the global legal arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, is bolstering its Swiss practice through a series of lateral hires. Associated firm Suter & Partners, which already has a presence in Zurich, Geneva and St Gall, is also opening an office in Lausanne. Michel Renaud and Christophe Wilhelm will head the Lausanne operation as managing partner and […]
US firm Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy has opened an office in Geneva, home of the World Trade Organization. The Atlanta-based firm claims to have the world’s largest WTO practice. It also says it is the first US firm to open in Geneva to do only WTO work. The office, which opened last Monday, will […]
The Chicago-based firm has poached Cherise Valles from the Canadian Government to head up the new Swiss outpost which will focus on world trade and e-commerce issues. As part of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Valles regularly advised on the rights and obligations arising under the World Trade Organisation and the […]